Sunday, February 21st at 8:30pm, Cornelia welcomes the meeting of Dave Liebman and Ellery Eskelin. As the band name suggests, Liebman and Eskelin come from two different yet compatible areas of the jazz improvisation continuum. Liebman emerged in the late ’60s early ’70s appearing on John McLaughlin’s My Goals Beyond, Miles Davis’s classic On the Corner and Dark Magus. He went on to form the bands Lookout Farm and Quest, create an incomparable duo language with pianist Richie Beirach, and become one of the most influential players and jazz educators of our time. He continues to work with a host of musicians in duo, small group and big band settings.

Eskelin came up in the generation following Liebman’s, moving from his native Baltimore in 1983 and jumping into the cauldron of New York. Finding a strong affinity with the downtown scene he joined drummer Joey Baron’s group, “Baron Down”, an experience that proved to be an important catalyst in his own work fostering an increased interest in new and unusual instrumentation. In 1994 Eskelin formed the group most often associated with him including accordionist Andrea Parkins and drummer Jim Black, called “…one of the finest units in progressive jazz” by Downbeat Magazine. Over the years Eskelin has worked with a broad cross section of jazz, avant-pop and new-music figures, leading him to be further dubbed “A major player in today’s creative music.

In 2009 Eskelin was commissioned by Chamber Music America to compose an extended composition for Different But the Same for CMA’s New Jazz Works grant series. The group will be debuting the composition this evening at the Cornelia Street Cafe.